Douglas Morey Ford (1851 – 12 May 1916) was an English lawyer and novelist who is best known for his two late works of

speculative fiction Speculative fiction is a term that has been used with a variety of (sometimes contradictory) meanings. The broadest interpretation is as a category of fiction encompassing genres with elements that do not exist in reality, recorded history, na ...

, ''A Time of Terror'' (1906) that dealt with anarchist attacks on the British government, and ''The Raid of Dover'' (1910) which imagined the rule of Britain by women accompanied by invasion and natural disasters.

Early life and family

Douglas Morey Ford was born in 1851 in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, the son of the businessman and solicitor Richard William Ford and his wife Emma.Douglas Morey Ford.
''At The Circulating Library''. 9 July 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
History in Portsmouth. Retrieved 4 September 2019. His siblings were

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

(Lt. Col. 1845–1918), Archibald Henry (Architect, 1846–1930), Harriett (1847–1903), Annie Emma (1849), Richard McArthur (1850–1851), Edward Carrington (1853–1854), Arthur Vernon (Physician, 1854–1918), Emma Beatrice (1856–?) and Richard William (Gen. Kt. 1857–1925). He married Honor Blanche Barnard in 1876. Honor was known for her interest in spiritualism and the writer

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...

, physician in Portsmouth and creator of Sherlock Holmes, may have attended a

séance A séance or seance (; ) is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word ''séance'' comes from the French word for "session", from the Old French ''seoir'', "to sit". In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, spe ...

at Ford's house around 1885. In 1901 the family were living in Croydon and Ford and his wife had two sons and seven daughters. They employed a governess and two servants.

Career

A Time of Terror by Douglas Morey Ford 1906

Ford entered the legal profession and wrote a number of legal textbooks. He also wrote novels and two works of speculative fiction, ''A Time of Terror: The Story of a Great Revenge (A.D. 1910)'' (1906) and ''The Raid of Dover: A Romance of the Reign of Woman: A.D. 1940'' (1910). In ''A Time of Terror'', a group of anarchists known as the League of London fight the British government and only fail to overthrow the government due to the outbreak of war with Germany.

Lyman Tower Sargent Lyman Tower Sargent (born 9 February 1940) is an American academic, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Sargent's main academic interests are in utopian studies, political theory, American studies and b ...

described the novel as containing themes of the corruption of the legal system, anti-socialism, and anti-women's rights. In ''The Raid of Dover'', Britain is ruled by women and is invaded by Germany which is accompanied by natural disasters such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.Ford, Douglas Morey.
''SFE: The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'', 11 August 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2019.

Death

Ford died at Tutshill, Chepstow, on 12 May 1916. His address at the time of his death was Clarence House,

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the Weald, High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Roc ...

. Probate was granted to Dorothy Christian Thompson, wife of Cecil Charles Brandon Thompson, on an estate of £455.1916 Probate Calendar, p. 244.
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Selected publications

Legal

* ''Solicitors as Advocates: Practical Suggestions in Connection with Proceedings Before Stipendiary Magistrates and Justices of the Peace, Actions in County Courts, Coroner's Inquests, Courts-martial, Etc. With Observations on the Law and Practice in the Above Courts''. Shaw and Sons, London, 1881. * ''Matrimonial Law, and the Guardianship of Infants: comprising the Matrimonial Causes Acts, 1857 to 1884; ... also the Married Women (maintenance in case of desertion) Act, 1886; and the Guardianship of Infants Act, 1886, with the Rules of Court (1887) and explanatory notes.'' W. Clowes & Sons, London, 1888. * ''The Law of Briefs and Manual of Forensic Fees''. 3rd edition. King, Sell & Olding, London,

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Introduction by

James Andrew Strahan James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

(1858–1930).

Novels

* ''Old as the Hills: A Novel''. Tinsley Brothers, London, 1871. * ''Kate Savage: A Novel''. Charing Cross Publishing Co., London, 1873. * ''Martindale's Money'' (serialized in ''St. James's Magazine'' in 1878) * ''A Time of Terror: The Story of a Great Revenge (A.D. 1910)''. Greening & Co., London, 1906. Reprinted as ''A Time of Terror: The Story of a Great Revenge (A.D. 1912)'' by Hurst & Blackett, London, 1908. *
The Raid of Dover: A Romance of the Reign of Woman: A.D. 1940
'. King, Sell, & Olding, London, 1910.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Douglas 1851 births 1916 deaths Writers from Portsmouth English novelists English speculative fiction writers 19th-century English lawyers